Radiation calorimeter-dosimeter



May 8, 1962 a. PETREE RADIATION cALoRIMETER-DOSIMETER Filed July 24, 1959 INV ENTOR en Pei/eve ATTORNEY May 8, 1962 B. PETREE 3,033,985

RADIATION cALoRIMETER-DOSIMETER Filed July 24, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 TO HEAT/N6 POWER l0 TEMP M545. a CONTROL Ww/r 7 T0 CAL. CIRCUIT 3 .1. 8 en Pefe.

' ATTORNEY f To moi' Filed July 24, 1959, Ser. No. 829,475 9 Caims. (Cl. Z50-33.3)

The present invention relates to radiation dosimeters and particularly contemplates an improved apparatus for measuring energy absorbed by material exposed to electromagnetic radiations such as X-rays and gamma rays, or to penetrating corpuscular radiations, such as electrons, protons, or neutrons, or to any'combination of them.

In accordance with the principles of the present invention the amount of absorbed radiation is manifested in a calorimetric device so that an accurate measurement of the temperature rise of an absorbing body inthe apparatus provides a measure of the energy absorbed by material exposed to radiation.

Previous methods such as chemical'dosimetry and ionization methods are indirect and require auxiliary information to convert the measurements to radiation dosages.

While previous caloiimeters haveV been employed for such purposes they generally have been bulky, of elaborate construction, and not capable of accuracy in measuring dosages.`

In accordance with the principles of the present inven-A tion a core of graphite or other thermal and electrical conducting material is mounted within an insulated chamber formed by a shell preferably of the same material as the core, surrounding and spaced from said core. The core is held concentrically within the shell by point contact supports of insulating material to minimize heat transfer. Means are provided to sense the heat rise in the core consequent to irradiation and further means are provided to maintain the shell in thermal equilibrium with the core by heating the shell consequent to the sensing of a temperature rise in the core. Such dynamic thermal shielding elfectively prevents transfer of heat to or from the core by radiation or conduction. The heat capacity of the core may be readily and accurately calibrated by measuring the temperature rise when the core is heated by means of an accurately measured electrical power. Hence, the mean temperature rise of the core when subsequently subjected to radiation serves as an accurate measurement of the energy absorbed by the core.

It is accordingly an immediate object of the present invention to provide an improved calon'metric radiation dosimeter that is simple in construction, compact, and highly accurate.` l

It is a further object of this invention to provide a calorimetric radiation dosimeter in which dynamic thermal shielding means are employed to prevent heat leakage from the calorimettic member.

AI further object of the present invention is to prow'de an improved dry calorimeter having self-contained calibration means.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a calorimeter-dosimeter made of substantially homogeneous material whereby the amount of different materials employedY is kept to a minimum.

Other uses and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reference to the specification and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of Vthe improved calorimetric radiation dosimeter of the present invention showing also the circuits for providing heat balance between the inner calorimeter core and the outer shell `and the circuit for Calibrating the calorimeter;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing details of the construction of the calorimeter of this invention, and

FIG. 3 is an elevation of the calorimeter of FIG. 2 shown in .a mounting.

The over-al1 constructionand operation of the calorimetric device of the present invention will rst be described in connection with FIG. l and the detailed construction of the calorimetric mechanism will then be described in connectionV with FIGS. 2 and 3.

Referring to FIG. l, there is shown a core of graphite or other thermally and electrically conductive material which may be in the form of a sphere 1 which, as Will be subsequently described, is made of two'hemispheres joined together at an equatorial plane by a disk or layer 2 of resistance material. The sphere may be made of graphite or other electrically and heat conductive material, such as aluminum, copper, etc., and contains a thermocouple junction designated as 3 in the drawing. lThe core I is mounted concentrically within a chamber 4 formed by a shell 5 which encases the core l.. The core l is mounted concentrically within the chamber 4 by a number of insulating pins made of polystyrene or other suitable insulating material, as willy be described in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3. The point contact provided by such support means minimizes heat transferbetween the inner core l and the outer shell 5; The shell 5, as will be described in connection with FIG. 2, is made in two sections to permitassembly of the instrument. The shell is made Vof material similarto Vthat of the core. In addition, both sections of the. shell 5 are wound With heating wire It so that the temperature of the shell can be controlled from kan electrical power source (not shown). The vheating means 10 is diagrammatically indicated in connection with FIG. l. The entire assembly comprising the core l and shell 5 may be mounted in a matrix or holder to facilitate positioning in the particular radiationiield to be investigated.

A second thermocouple junction 6 is provided in the shell member 5, as is shown in FIG. l, and both the thermocouple junction 3 in the core 1 and the thermal junction 6 in the shell form part of a control circuit for maintaining the temperature of the shell in equilibrium with the core temperature. Contacts 1a and 1b are provided in the core 1 and conductors 8,' 8, are connected to these contacts and arebrought out through small holes in the shell 5, as will be described, to a calibrating circuit 9. j

When the dosimeter comprising the core l is irradiated, part of the incident energy will be absorbed by the sphere and converted to heat. The resulting temperature increase Will be sensed by the thermocouple junction 3 in the sphere and the resultant voltage Vs which is a funcby manual control of the power applied to the referred-tol heating coil lll on the shell S or -by suitable automatic control means which is sensitive to the error signal represented by the diierence between the voltages of the thermocouple junctions 3 and 6.

An essential feature of the present invention which contributes to the accuracy of measurement is provided by the shell S and the means employed forA keeping the temperature thereof equal to that of the core 1 as the latter heats. This effectively prevents the transfer of heat to or from the sphere I either by radiation or conduction. The thermocouple junctions 3 and 6 permit even small diilerences between the temperatures of the sphere and shell to be readily sensed and the voltage Vd generated by thermocouple junctions 3 and 6 indicates the temperature difference bothin magnitude and sense. Such signal canv vthe core to heat upon the' application of a measured amount of power from battery 11. 'Ihe heat is generated principally in the-referred-'to layer of resistance material 2 which separates the Vtwo portions forming the core 1. Knowing the power necessary to produce a particular temperature rise in the core 1, the resulting temperature rise when the core Vis subjected to irradiation can be interpreted in terms ofthe equivalent electrical power necessary to produce such temperature rise. Such equivalent power therefore serves as a measure of the power absorbed by the core 1 when irradiated. With such overall summary of the construction and operation of the vcalorirneter'in mind, the detailed construction can now be described.

FIG. Z is an exploded view showing the construction of the calorimeter of the'present invention. For conaosacss Y Y and eliminate temperature dif- I venience, the core 1 may bein the shape of a sphere comprising two hemispheres joined by the resistive layer 2. as shown in FIG.Y 1.V The spherical core lies within the chamber provided 'by the two sections forming the outer shell member 5. The electrical contacts to each of the hemispheres are also shown in FIG. Ztogether with the conductors 8, 8, which join the spheres to the calibration circuit-9, as shown in FIG. l'. The resistive iilm or layer 2 may consist of a mixture of l0 parts carbon mixed .with 100 parts of epoxy and V71/2 parts of a hardening agent s uch as boron triliuoride piperidene.

, The resistance of the core 1 when made of a material such as graphite is approximately 1 ohm when no resistive film or layer Z is employed. The resistances of the electrical conductors 8, 8 are negligible compared to the 'resistance of the core '1 so that the current will generate heat in the core and not in the conductors. 'The resistivity of the film 2 is made so that the assembled core 1 will have a resistivity of approximately 500 ohms. FIG. 2 clearly shows the heating coils 10 wrapped around the outer periphery of the shellV sections.Y The heating coils 10 are made of Nichrome or suitable electrical resistance wire. A suicient number of turns are wound on the shell to provide the necessary degree of heating. The shell is preferably Ymade of the same material as the core 1. While the core 1 has been described as being made of carbon or graphite, a number of other materials canbe used to provide dose measurements, provided the material selected is a reasonably good conductor of heat and electricity.

The spherical shape illustrated in FIG. 2 is convenient, 4

Vbut it will'be readily apparent that other and more complicated constructions can be used. For example, the sphere can be divided in three segments by two parallel planes instead ofthe equatorial plane shown and joined with two layers of resistive material so as to better distribute the electrical heating used for calibration purposes. Y

o FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the calorimeter placed within a convenient holder 16 which lmay be made of styrofoam. The holder is suitably sectioned as indicated within shell 5 by studs 13 made of polystyrene or other suitable electrical and heat insulating material. As shown inrFlG. 3, the conductors 8 forming the connection for the calibrating circuit are conveniently brought out through small holes 14 provided in shell 5. The leads for the thermocouple junction 3 identitied in connection with FIG. l are connected by leads 3a l(FIG. 2,) which are threaded through a small hole 6 provided in the shell 5 as shown in FIG. 2.

T emperature-Sensng Circuit ence junction 18. The reference junction 18 provides aA stabilized reference temperature which is readily obtained by immersing the junction in ice. Alternately any stable reference temperature can be maintained by using conventional phase state change techniques such as, for example, where a crystalline substance is |kept in equilibrium with a liquid.

The temperature reference junction 18 is in turn connected to contacts of switches SW1 and SW2. The contactors of each of these switches are connected to respective vD.C. breaker ampliers 19a, 19h. 'Ihe breaker amplifiers employed may be of the type made by the Beckman Instrument Company and identified as a. D.C. breaker amplilier Model 14.

The control circuit includes a resistor R1 and a resistance box R2 connected to an accurate voltage source such as is represented fby Weston cell 20 in FIG. 1.

' If the temperature of the core isy equal to the temperature of the shell the Vvoltage Vd in FIG. 1 will equal 0. When theV temperature of the core differs from the temperature of shell 5 then the amplitude of Vd will be either greater or less than 0, the polarity thereof being determined by Whether the temperature of the core is greater or less than that of the shell.

The output of D.C. breaker amplifier 19a indicates to a high degree of accuracy the magnitude of the voltage Vd which sthe dilerence betweenthe temperatures of core 1 andshell 5. By adjusting the electric power t0 the heater coils 10 the temperature of shell 5 can then readily be changed until the output of amplilier 19a is 0. This condition of adjustment prevents heat transfer to the core from the surroundings by conduction and radiation, and is maintained during the Calibrating and measurement operations.

By .observing the output of ampliier 19b the resistance box R2 can beV adjusted until Ythe current through resistor R1 produces a voltage that is equal and opposite to the voltage Vs. The output ofampliiier 19h will be 0 underV such condition of balance and an accurate measure of the value of Vs is thereby obtained.

Calibrating CircuittFIG. 1)

As previously mentioned, the calorimeter may be conveniently and accurately calibrated by applying power lfrom source 11 to the core 1 Athrough connecting leads 8, 8. The source represented Iby battery 11 may be selectively connected to the core lor to dummy load 3 by a 2-position switch SW3. For some time prior to the calibration, SW3 is thrown to the iight so as to connect Vthe dummy load` and thereby permit the voltage of the source 11 to become stable. V

An adjustable potentiometer designated as R4'in FIG. lfmay beselectively connected to measure either the source voltage 1.1.or thegvoltage across resistor R5 which corresponds to the current passing through the calorimeter core l. Y

Speciiically, when switch SW3 is thrown to theY left as viewed in FIG. l, so as to connect the source 11 across ,the core 1 inV series with resistor RS, and switch SW4 is thrown tothe'down position, potentiometer R4, when voltage of battery source 11. When switch SW4 is then thrown to the up position potentiometer R4, when balanced, will provide a measurement corresponding to the current ow in resistor R5, and hence in the core 1. From these two measurements the power input to the core 1 can 'be accurately calculated.

it will be apparent that the embodiments shown are only exemplary and that various modifications can be made in construction and arrangement within the scope of invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A calorimetric radiation dosimeter for measuring the energy absorbed by a body exposed to penetrating high energy irradiation comprising a `core of electrically and thermally `conducting material, a thermal shield made of the same material as the core enclosing said core in spaced relation thereto, means for sensing the temperature change in said core when subjected to said irradiation, and means for adjusting the temperature of said shield into equilibrium with the temperature yof said core.

2. The invention of claim 1 including means for senssing the temperature of said shield.

3. The invention of claim 2 in which saidtemperature sensing means comprises thermo-couple junction means embedded in said core and shield respectively.

4. The invention of claim 3 in which the means for adjusting the temperature of said shield comprises electrical heater means attached to said shield and means -for applying electrical power to said heating means.

5. 'Ihe invention of claim 4 including means for calibrating the heat capacity of said core comprising a source of electrical power,calibrating circuit means including means for selectively connecting said power source to said core and means for measuring the amount of power applied to said core to produce a particular temperature rise therein.

6. The invention of claim 5 in which said core comprises a plurality of symmetrical geometric masses each having a planar surface, a film of electrical resistive material `corresponding in size to said surfaces, said masses and iilm being joined into an integral mass so that the resistivity of said core corresponds to that of said film.

7. The invention of claim 6 in which said Calibrating circuit means is connected tov each of said geometric masses respectively.

8. The invention of claim 6 including a temperature measuring circuit, means connecting said circuit to said temperature sensing thermocouples, said measuring circuit including a temperature stabilized reference junction, a source of voltage, means for balancing said source voltage against the therinocouple voltage.

9. The invention of claim 6 in which said masses are made of graphite and said film Iconsists essentially of carbon particles mixed with epoxy resin in a proportion sufficient toproduce a selected resistivity.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,579,994 Zinnk Dec. 25, 1951 2,800,023 Obermaier July 23, 1957 2,811,856 Harrison Nov. 5, 1957 2,837,917 Machler June 10, 1958 

